“Inside Man”
Starring: Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, Willem Dafoe, Christopher Plummer, Chiwetel Ejiofor
3 and ½ stars out of 4
Spike Lee is so used to doing social commentary’s with something to say or for the audience to look inside themselves and possibly change. Lee is also familiar with using post 9/11 feelings and behaviors as a backdrop in some of his newer films. While “Inside Man “ is strictly supposed to be a heist film Lee cannot help put plug in some of his favorite themes and use them in favor of the script.
The film is lined with an all star cast, something Lee is usually associated with, but with “Inside Man”, his most mainstream effort and most notable cast, Lee crafts a heist film with actual brains and insight rather than your standard assembly line heist film.
Clive Owen plays Dalton Russell, he is controlled, determined, and knows he can pull of the perfect bank robbery, he requires immediate attention throughout the film as we hardly see his face as him and his crew mask themselves along with everyone else in the bank. Denzel Washington plays Keith Frazier, not only will he have the privilege of working the bank robbery with his partner played by Ejifor who appeared in “4 Brothers“, and “Love Actually”, but he also has other things on his plate. He is in the process of being accused with $140,000 somehow falling into his lap, also he can’t afford a ring to appropriately propose to his girlfriend with.
I love how Lee sidesteps all the routine stages of a bank takeover, he doesn’t find new or brutal ways to punish the hostages if they step out of line, not only is his script tight, but the criminals are always one step ahead of the audience, and ahead of Frazier in this cat and mouse showdown where nothing is what it seems. Things get more complex and confusing when the chairman of the bank branch (Plummer) is notified of his bank being taken over. He hides something in the vault, but only with the help of Madeline (Jodie Foster) can he hopefully keep his secrets hidden and safe.
There are to many crucial plot points in the film that I cannot mention without giving anything away, “Inside Man”, manages to be slick and fully entertaining for 130 minutes while still remaining decently realistic. Owen is picture perfect as the leader of the crew, Denzel is so used t playing a cop character, that he probably couldn’t pass up this project to do what he does so easily with Spike Lee at the helm, who also directed Denzel in “He Got Game.” Jodie Foster and Christopher Plummer are solid as the sleezy key players with a lot of pull both hiding a crucial secret, which is also the reason for Dalton’s heist. Willem Dafoe is also good as Captain Darius.
While there is much more and then some for the audience to piece together and figure out, “Inside Man” constantly pulls it’s own weight and will surely give the spring box office a shot of much needed adrenaline.
